ABSTRACT Introduction: Preconception care, provides intervention for women in reproductive age, regardless of status or pregnancy, to improve health of women, newborns and children. Compared to developed countries, the preconception care coverage is lower in the developing world, and usually the first referral of women to health cares is after pregnancy. The purpose of this study...

INTRODUCTION Utilization of Skilled Birth Attendants (SBAs) at birth is low (20%) in Bangladesh. Birth attendance by SBAs is considered as the "single most important factor in preventing maternal deaths". This paper examined the practices and determinants of delivery by SBAs in rural Bangladesh. METHODS The data come from the post-intervention survey of a cluster-randomized community controll...

INTRODUCTION Uptake of antenatal services is low in Nigeria; however, indicators in the Christian-dominated South have been better than in the Muslim-dominated North. This study evaluated religious influences on utilization of general and HIV-related maternal health services among women in rural and periurban North-Central Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS Targeted participants were HIV-positive...

BACKGROUND Physical activity and healthcare utilization has negative association. However, there appears to be limited knowledge of how this association is affected by self-rated health (SRH) and socio-economic status (SES). Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the association between leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and healthcare utilization, and investigate how SRH, gender, a...

BACKGROUND Scarcity of resources for healthcare is a well-acknowledged problem. In this context, efficient utilization of existing financial and human resources becomes crucial for strengthening the healthcare delivery. The assessment of efficiency of health facilities can guide decision makers in ensuring the optimum utilization of available resources. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study w...

BACKGROUND India, with a population of more than 1.21 billion, has the highest maternal mortality in the world (estimated to be 56000 in 2010); and adolescent (aged 15-19) mortality shares 9% of total maternal deaths. Addressing the maternity care needs of adolescents may have considerable ramifications for achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)-5. This paper assesses the socioeconomic...

This paper analyses equity in health and healthcare utilization in Afghanistan based on a representative national household survey. Equitable access is a cornerstone of the Afghan health policy. We measured socioeconomic-related equity in access to public health care, using disability--because people with disabilities are poorer and more likely to use health care--and a concentration index (CI)...

BACKGROUND Healthcare discrimination based on race/ethnicity is associated with decreased healthcare access and utilization among racial/ethnic minority patients. Discrimination based on criminal record may also negatively impact healthcare access and utilization among ex-prisoners. METHODS We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional survey of 172 men recently released fr...

Maternal health outcomes in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) compare unfavorable with those in Western Europe, despite macro-indicators that suggest well-designed maternal care systems. However, macro-indicators at the system level only capture capacity, funding and utilization of care and not the actual allocation of financial and human resources, the quality of care and access to it. It is th...